I received the following information as a blogger via Walt Disney Publications. While I’m attending an expense paid trip by Disney to the press events for Avengers: Age of Ultron (#AvengersEvent) and Monkey Kingdom (#MonkeyKingdom, #LAZoo), all opinions as always are 100% my own.

Last Friday morning I arrived at the ABC Building to screen the newest Disneynature film, Monkey Kingdom. The movie comes out today, April 17th. This is an adorable film about Macaque monkeys in an abandoned palace in South Asia. There is a story here and it is about Maya one of the low-born monkeys at Castle Rock. She is the lowest of the low in her family. And by low, we are literally talking about height. The high-born monkeys are those who can live higher in the tree, eat the fruits higher in the tree and they enjoy the privileges of royalty.

Maya must scavenge for her meals. She must also cater to the needs of the high-born monkeys. To them, she is nothing but she needs them for her protection. The family hierarchy is so complex that it rivals intricacy of a Game of Thrones family tree.

The story really is one of a heroes journey. Maya struggles on a daily basis. Struggles to get enough food, struggles for warmth and shelter and when she becomes pregnant and has her son, Kip, she struggles to make a better life for him. The thing about a heroes’ journey and having to work hard and struggle for things is that it makes you more self sufficient and stronger when things get tough. Well, when things get tough for this monkey family it is up to Maya to step up and help her family with their struggles.

I think that Monkey Kingdom is a wonderful movie filled with humor and heart. Tina Fey makes an excellent narrator for this story. While there is some danger and peril for the monkeys the movie is mild enough for young kids and they will laugh at the antics of these lovable monkeys. Take a look at the trailer below and full movie information below that.

MONKEY KINGDOM
DISNEYNATURE

Genre: True Life Adventure
Rating: TBD
U.S. Release Date: April 17, 2015

Director: Mark Linfield
Co-Director: Alastair Fothergill
Producers: Mark Linfield, Alastair Fothergill

Life is an adventure for Maya, the clever and resourceful blonde-bobbed monkey in “Monkey Kingdom,” Disneynature’s new feature film set among ancient ruins in the storied jungles of South Asia. Maya’s world is forever changed when she welcomes her son, Kip, into her complicated extended family. Like all families, Maya’s has more than its share of colorful personalities—and she’s determined to give her son a leg up in the world. When their longtime home at Castle Rock is taken over by powerful neighboring monkeys, Maya’s whole family is forced to relocate, and she uses her street smarts and ingenuity to lead them to untapped resources amidst strange new creatures and unsettling surroundings. Ultimately, they will all have to work together to reclaim Castle Rock, where Maya can hopefully realize her dreams for her son’s future.

Featuring a rich variety of characters, including a mischievous mongoose, simple-minded langur monkeys, predatory leopards and monitor lizards, “Monkey Kingdom” is directed by Mark Linfield (“Chimpanzee,” “Earth”) and co-directed by Alastair Fothergill (“Chimpanzee,” “Bears”). With music from award-winning composer Harry Gregson-Williams (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Shrek” movies), Disneynature’s eighth True Life Adventure—the follow-up to 2014’s “Bears”—swings into theaters April 17, 2015.

Set in the storied jungles of South Asia, “Monkey Kingdom” showcases the adventures of new mom Maya, a clever and resourceful blonde-bobbed monkey who’s determined to give her son a leg up in the world.

• For every ticket sold opening week (April 17-23, 2015), Disneynature will make a donation to Conservation International to help protect monkeys and other endangered species in their natural habitats.
• “Monkey Kingdom” is the sixth theatrical release for Disneynature, the first new Disney-branded film label from The Walt Disney Studios in more than 60 years. The label was launched in April 2008 to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to capture a variety of wildlife subjects and stories.
• The first five big-screen releases under the Disneynature label—“Earth,” “Oceans,” “African Cats,” “Bears” and “Chimpanzee”—are among the top six highest grossing feature-length nature films of all time.
• Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife documentary filmmaking, producing 13 True Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960, including “Seal Island” (1948), “Beaver Valley” (1950), “The Living Desert” (1953) and “Jungle Cat” (1958). The films earned eight Academy Awards®.

ABOUT DISNEYNATURE:
Disneynature was launched in April 2008. Its mission is to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to share a wide variety of wildlife stories on the big screen in order to engage, inspire and educate theatrical audiences everywhere. Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife filmmaking, producing 13 True-Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960, which earned eight Academy Awards®. The first five Disneynature films, “Earth,” “Oceans,” “African Cats,” “Chimpanzee,” and “Bears” are five of the top six highest overall grossing feature-length nature films to date, with “Chimpanzee” garnering a record-breaking opening weekend for the genre. Disneynatures’s commitment to conservation is a key pillar of the label and the films empower the audience to help make a difference. Through donations tied to opening-week attendance for all five films, Disneynature, through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, has planted three million trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, established 40,000 acres of marine protected area in The Bahamas, protected 65,000 acres of savanna in Kenya, protected nearly 130,000 acres of wild chimpanzee habitat, cared for chimpanzees, educated 60,000 school children about chimpanzee conservation and funded research and restoration grants in U.S. National Parks, supporting conservation projects across 2.9 million acres of parkland and protecting endangered species. For more information about Disneynature please take a look at these sites

Monkey Kingdom Website and Mobile Site: www.disney.com/monkeykingdom

Like Disneynature on Facebook: Facebook.com/Disneynature

Follow Disneynature on Twitter: Twitter.com/Disneynature

Follow Disneynature on Instagram: http://instagram.com/disneynature

MONKEY KINGDOM opens in theaters everywhere today, April 17th!